Mouseshadow
Mouseshadow is a thin, wiry, undersized dark brown tabby she-cat with lighter brown splotches, white front paws and muzzle, a nicked left ear and piercing amber eyes. Mouseshadow's Grief Mousekit was born small. An undersized kit with a sickly stature, she was neglected from the start. Her mother, Skyfrost, was very shallow. Looking down upon her two kits, she immediately chose Mousekit's sister, Streamkit, as her favorite, due to her pretty tabby and white fur and blue eyes. Mousekit was weaned, and then Skyfrost would have no more of her. Skyfrost doted on Streamkit, spoiling and coddling her. Mousekit, neglected by her mother, was turned over to her father Houndblaze for care and supervision, though he was no happier in looking after her than her mother was. Mousekit spent her entire kit hood trying to please her parents and her sister, to no avail. When she became an apprentice, she thought things were going to be different, that if she worked extra-hard she would be able to win her family's approval. Oh, how wrong she was. Skyfrost continued to pamper Streampaw, who disowned Mousepaw and ignored her like everyone else. To make matters worse, none of the warriors wanted to train Mousepaw, saying that they didn't want an apprentice who couldn't keep up with everyone else and would just turn out to be a failure anyways. Thus, Mousepaw was apprenticed to Houndblaze. He wasn't happy about this one bit, and tried several times to turn Mousepaw over to the medicine cat for training. But the medicine cat didn't want Mousepaw either. No one did. Mousepaw was bullied by the other apprentices, who mocked her for her small stature and clumsy paws. Mousepaw often ran away from camp and into the territory, finding peace in her own company. During one of these trips, she met a loner named Sharp. He was the only cat who was kind to Mousepaw. He taught her how to fight and how to stalk prey better than Houndblaze ever did, and usually gave her fresh-kill to take back to the Clan as a reward for her hard work. Thanks to Sharp, Mousepaw was able to pass her assessment, becoming a warrior and earning the name Mouseshadow. She continued to meet Sharp at the border, and eventually became pregnant with his kits. After the kits were born, she and Sharp would take them and run away together, just like they had always dreamed. But one night, Houndblaze followed Mouseshadow when she went to meet Sharp. When he found Mouseshadow with Sharp, he attacked the loner brutally. Houndblaze forced Mouseshadow to watch him kill Sharp. Then he turned on his daughter, giving her a nicked ear as punishment for breaking the warrior code and loving someone who was not from her Clan. When Mouseshadow was ready to give birth to Sharp's kits, she ran off into the territory by herself, knowing that no cat at camp would help her during labor anyway. It was a long, hard kitting, but Mouseshadow succeeded in giving birth to four she-kits. Their names were Yarrowkit, Beechkit, Rootkit and Hopekit. Yarrowkit was a stillborn, but the rest of her sisters were alive. However, as the night dragged on both Beechkit and Rootkit died from weakness and exposure, leaving only Hopekit still alive. Mouseshadow, determined for her little one to live, sheltered her sole remaining daughter fiercely. It payed off, for the little she-kit lived and grew to become Mouseshadow's only joy. But of course, the joy did not last. When Hopepaw became a warrior, with the name of Hopeheart, she became restless and disoriented. She headed out on a pilgrimage, hoping to find a place to call her own. She never returned, and while Mouseshadow was hopeful that she would come back, deep inside of her she knew that something must have happened, that Hopeheart was dead. She did the first reckless thing that crossed her mind: go out to look for her. Mouseshadow's absence was noted after two days. Streamshine was sent out to bring her back, as it was leaf-bare and the Clan could not afford to lose another warrior. She found Mouseshadow at the Twolegplace, and tried to persuade her to come back to ShadowClan with her. When Mouseshadow refused, Streamshine confessed to her sister that she had been wrong about her their whole lives. She said that Mouseshadow was needed by the Clan and needed by her, so her sister reluctantly agreed to go back. On their way back to the forest, however, the two were attacked by a Twoleg. Streamshine allowed herself to be captured by the Twoleg, giving Mouseshadow time to escape. When Mouseshadow arrived back to the Clan without Streamshine, they assumed that Mouseshhadow had murdered her. The stress of her favorite daughter's death caused a pregnant Skyfrost to go into early labor. She gave birth to three tom-kits, but two were premature and died only a few hours after being born. Skyfrost herself died that night, due to stress to her heart and blood loss while kitting. But when Mouseshadow went to check on her, she too admitted that she had been wrong. Skyfrost had just enough breath left in her body to tell Mouseshadow that she loved her, and then died, leaving her daughter bewildered and grieving. Only one kit survived: a small tom Mouseshadow went on to call Stoatkit. Houndblaze, overcome with rage and anguish due to his mate's death, forced Mouseshadow and Stoatkit along with him, and they left the Clan that same night. Mouseshadow suffered greatly in her loner years, being subjected to nearly daily physical and mental abuse due to her father's quotidian fits of rage. She tried her best to give Stoatkit a normal life, telling him about the Clans and their customs, and teaching him how to survive when he reached six moons. Eventually, Houndblaze died of heart failure, finally freeing his children from his grasp. Mouseshadow and Stoatpaw traveled back to ShadowClan, where they were welcomed back, surprisingly, with open arms. Stoatpaw earned his warrior name, Stoatpounce, and soon took on a mate of his own. A new warrior of the Clan, Badgerheart, took interest in Mouseshadow and tried to befriend her. After a long struggle of trying to win her affection, Mouseshadow finally relented and became mates with him, having one final litter of five beautiful kits (Sedgenose, Amberheart, Russetlight, Ripplefoot and Bumbleheart). She died a peaceful death in the elders den, an ending she deserved more than anything else. Category:She-Cat Category:ShadowClan Category:Queen Category:StarClan Category:Deceased Category:Senior Warrior Category:Mouseshadow's Grief Characters